Improvement in harvesters



anni mijn,

'CHARLES E. MAsoNQoF ELG1N, ILLINois.

Laim Patent No. 94,966, dma smarter 2i, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT 1N HARVESTERS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part qt' thesame.

To all'whom itmag/ concern Be it known that I, CHARLES E. Mason, of theI city of Elgin, in the county of Kane, and Statev of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improve- `ments in Mowing andReapingfMachines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which-Figure 1 represents a perspective View, with a portion of one wheel andofthe frame cut away;

' Figure 2, a section ofthe flame, with the lever for throwing themachine'into and out of gear;

Figure 3, a cross-section of thel part shown in iigLQ;

l Figure 4, a rev-erse view of the same;

.Figure 5, a vertical section of the lever-head k, on

the scale of figs. 6and 7; Figure 6, a front view of a broken section ofthe wheelnA;

Figure 7 'an edge .view of the same section; and

Figure 8, a side'view ofmachine, showing the mode of elevating thecutters. A

The nature of my invention consists in a novel arrangement of the partsfor 'engaging and disengaging the operating-parts with and from thedrivingwheel; in an improved method of operating the cutters, and intheseveral combinations hereinafter set forth.

'llo' enable others; skilled in the art to make and use lmyimprovements, I will proceed to describe the construction and operationof the same.

In the drawings- A Af, represent the wheels; B, the axle; and

.0, the frame of a two-wheeled truck, for areaping,

or mowing, or a combined machine, which canbe made in the form shown, orin any of the -well-known forms suitable for attaching the other parts.

Near the'vperiphery of the inner wheel A', and to the outside thereof, Iattach a serrated or corrugated disk, or other cam-projections, as shownin gs. 1 and S.

They may be cast with the wheel, or separately ,made and bolted' on, ifa 'cast wheel`should not be dei sredi To the frame opposite the cam faceof the wheel A', I attach, by'suitable j ournal-bearings, two rods orshafts a.

At the outer ends of these shafts a, cross-heads D are permanentlyattached,t-ting tolerably close t0 the inside of the cam-disk, and ateach end of these cross-heads, small pinsor rollers i project out overthe cam, as shown at iig. `6.

A t the inner ends Aof the shafts a, I attach, by setscrews or othersuitable means, the arms b, which project downward to the heel of theshoe c, where each is attached, by a suitable hinge or vpivotA toseparate cutter-bars, c and d.

The shcec is supported in place by and vpivoted to pendants f y,or other.suitable frame, and is located 'so near the ground as to make theaverage position of the cutters horizontal. t

In front of the'pivot, which connects the shoe with the frame-work, Iattach 'a rod, g, which connects the shoe with the lever h, by means ofwhich the cutter is raised or lowered, and held permanent-ly elevated,when the lever is thrown back, as shown at fig. 8.

The cutter shown consists of two-sickles, reciprocating in opposition toeach other, and without cutter-guards.

One sickle can be operated in a cutter-bar provided with guards, &c., inthe usualv manner.

By this mode of attaching thesickles, the cuttingapparatus will rise andfall, and accommodate itself to the undulations or inequalities oftheground.

On the side ofthe frame opposite the cutters, I attach `another lever,j. rIhis lever is pivoted to the frame to the side ofthe journal-hearingof the axle,

as shown in iig. 1, and on the inside ofthe frame is 'provided with aprojecting heel, m, and on the outside with a projection, k, locatedopposite to the end of the axle.

This projection, which is shown in section in fig. 5, is provided withan adjustable bearing, o, which is held in place and advanced, as itbecomes worn, by the set-screw-Z at the outer end.

When the machine is in operation, this bears against the end of the axleB, and holds the cam up to its work.

When it is desired to detach the operative parts, or move the machinewithout operating the cutters, this lever is thrown back, as shown bythe dotted lines in fig. 2,l when the pressure ofthe cross-head1), uponthe cam E, will cause the frame to move upon the axle, and, when themovement has taken place, the lever j is still further depressed, sovthat the heel m will engage the axle back of the projection n, or intothe groove formed in axle, and' thereby hold the frame in position toprevent a movement of the sickles.

When the machine 'is to be operated or thrown intojgear, the lever isbrought back to itsA original vposition,the inner face of k beingsuliciently inclined toforce the frame back, and when the plug o comesoppositeto the end of the axle, the machine will be again in anoperating-condition.

The plug o can be made of wood, Babbitt metal, or of any othersuitable'material.-

, A drivers seat is easily attached tothe frame C, in

any desirable position, and a. suitable dropping or raking attachment,with platform, can be attached for reaping-purposes.

Having thus fully described my machine,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The combination and arrangement of the two cross-heads D, shafts a,sind pitmen b, with the dou-- ble sickle c and d, substantially asspecified.

2. The lcverj, provided with the heel fm. and projection k, incombination with the axle B, substantially as and for the purposesspecified.

3. lThe projection or hub k, provided with the setscrew land plug o,when constructed and operating substantially as set forth.

Witnesses:

JOHN S. WILCOX, A. T. LEWIS.

GHAS. E. MASON.

